Nash, Suns get revenge on Wizards

Nash scored 27 points as the Suns raced out to a huge lead en
route to a 127-105 rout of the Wizards.

Phoenix, which owns the second-best record in the league,
seemingly toyed with the Eastern Conference-leading Wizards.

"I think the first time (against Washington) we had our chances
to win," Nash said. "I don't want to make excuses, they were
outstanding, but we had a tough day that day busing two hours
and three hours of flying in right before the game. And just
down the end of the game, especially, we made a lot of mistakes
and didn't capitalize. Tonight we were a little sharper for the
most part."

"Phoenix is a very good team and a very unselfish team,"
Washington coach Eddie Jordan said. "They pass the ball well,
and Nash is the ultimate playmaker. They played at a high
level, one that we did not match."

The Suns, winners of 14 straight, got revenge for an earlier
defeat to Washington. The Wizards ended Phoenix's
franchise-record 15-game win streak with a 144-139 overtime win
on December 22.

Phoenix decided the issue early, racing out to a 41-20 lead
after one quarter before stretching its lead to 76-51 at the
half. The Suns shot 65 percent (26-of-40) from the floor in the
first half while the Wizards only shot 42 percent (16-of-38).

"You always want to, but we definitely were focused on trying to
start," Nash said. "I can't sit here and say we drew it up to
be up 20 points in the first quarter, that's about as good as it
gets. I think we've had a number of quarters like that this
season, but it was about as well as we can play offensively."

The 76 points was the second-most the Suns have scored in a half
this season. Phoenix poured in 78 in a 137-122 triumph over
the Memphis Grizzlies on January 15.

In the opening quarter the Suns shot 70 percent (16-of-23) from
the floor and 67 percent (6-of-9) from 3-point range .

Shawn Marion and Raja Bell added 21 points each for the Suns.

Gilbert Arenas, whose 29.7 points-per-game average is the
second-highest in the league, scored 31 points for the Wizards,
who had their 10-game home win streak snapped.

"I did hear that they wanted to be the Phoenix Suns of the
East," Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire said. "I think there's only
one Phoenix Suns and we rest in the West. And that's how it's
going to be for a while."

The closest the Wizards got was 109-95 when Antonio Davis sank a
layup with 7:22 left in the fourth quarter.

"We kept fighting and got it down to 14 points," Arenas said.
"We tried to build on it, but they hit a shot and got two
fastbreak layups. It is hard to beat a team that is playing
that well."